


Waiting Room

by OldDVS



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-30 01:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18305771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldDVS/pseuds/OldDVS
Summary: A small misunderstanding at hospital.





	Waiting Room

Waiting Room

She burst into the room, the angry effort baffled by a well-constructed door and good hinges. The only person in the room glanced up from his phone and went back to it without comment. She stomped the perimeter of the small space, ignoring the comfortable chairs, before beginning to pace back and forth. She was a pretty woman, blonde and buxom, dressed in red with black accents at the pockets and neckline.

After a few minutes the man finished with his phone for the moment, tucked it into the pocket of his neat gray suit and addressed her in a stiff and formal voice. “Might I inquire as to why you are here?”

Startled out of her intense pacing, she turned on him. “I'm waiting.” Her tone was sarcastic and her eyes measured him and found him hardly worth the effort. Indeed, he was a bland, quiet looking man, and not her type at all, which was plainly reflected in her expression.

“It is a waiting room,” the man agreed. “But it was my understanding that there was only one patient in this module. You appear to be in the wrong waiting room.”

“I'm waiting for them to get their heads out of their...for some paperwork to be clarified. Fixed,” she amended, with a scowl.

He blinked. “What is the error?” he inquired, sitting up a little more and yet giving the impression of barely-interested.

“They won't let me see my husband!”

The man blinked again. “Possibly because you have no husband here? Whom did you wish to visit?”

She gave a toss to her head. “Gregory Lestrade!”

“Ah. That is your problem, then. You are no longer married to Mr. Lestrade.”

“Like that matters. He's hurt! Unconscious!”

The man shrugged. “That doesn't tell me why you're here.”

“I was called, of course! I'm still listed as next of kin.” she explained.

“No. You are not.” A flat cold statement. She stared at him and shook her head.

“I must be. They called, after all,” she pointed out with just a touch of superiority in her tone.

The man pulled his phone from his pocket, lifted it to his lips and murmured. “Investigate.” Then he gave his attention to the woman again. “There appears to be an error. Who, specifically, called?”

“A nurse, I suppose. How do I know? Just called and said they would need me to sign a few things. I came as soon as I could and now they won't let me see him.” Her lips were quivering with her indignation.

“Yes, I see,” the man said and turned to his phone again. He was soon tapping at it steadily with a small gold stylus. She rolled her eyes and flopped down onto one of the chairs. Before long she was up pacing again.

She stopped when he spoke once more. “But why would you insist on seeing him? Why is it important to you? He,” the man added, “has not been important to you for a very long time.”

“Of course Greg is important! I was married to him for almost twenty years!”

“But discarded him. Divorced him.”

“Just because the marriage didn't work didn't mean he wasn't important to me!”

“For the second income, yes. And you liked it when he was pleading. But in all other ways, you deemed him inadequate.”

She pursed her lips. “That's a rude thing to say. And you know nothing about it.”

“I know you cheated on him. Repeatedly. You must have found him less than acceptable in bed,” he concluded.

“Greg was perfectly acceptable in bed! Just...”

“You have a need for variety.” It was said with a small moue of distaste.

“I'm not talking about this with some complete stranger! Right now I just want to see Greg!”

“And I...can not allow that.”

“You what?” She whirled around to face him squarely. “You won't 'allow' me to see him? Who crowned you queen?” Her scorn was huffed at him, punctuated by another hair toss.

The man smiled a small tight smile. “If seeing you would help Greg in any way, I would not hesitate. But after being knocked unconscious and enduring some minor surgical repairs, the last thing he needs as he struggles to ground himself and and throw off the disorientation is the sight of his shrewish ex-wife.”

“Shrewish?” Her voice rose but as she got ready to launch into another protest he held up his hand.

“Perhaps I meant hysterical,” he said soothingly. “Gregory will need quiet to recover and I can not have you raising your voice and disturbing his rest.

“Oh, 'can't' you?” she mocked. “Get over yourself.”

The man said softly, “No need. You seem distraught. Perhaps you need some quiet time? Twenty-four hours rest in a nice...facility?”

“Is that a threat?” she demanded as her voice went higher.

“No, no. In general I don't make threats,” he told her calmly. “But I'll make an exception in your case. Attempt to see Gregory and I will have you removed from the premises at once. That is perfectly clear, is it not?”

“You and what army?”

“British. But if you prefer I have the services of a Canadian regiment at hand.”

“You're a funny man,” she said, in a tone that implied he was plainly not.

“A serious one. You will not compromise Gregory's health or his recovery.” He paused and then faced her squarely. “I think it is very important that you come to terms with your presence here. You did not have to come. You could have explained to the nurse that you were no longer married to him. With your determination to see him, you appear to be attempting to re-insert yourself into his life. You will not be able to do so, so it is best that you disabuse yourself of the notion that it is possible.”

She opened yer mouth again but an abrupt hand motion forestalled her comment.

He continued, “Please ask yourself why you are here, attempting to see a man you have not bothered to see in the year you have been divorced from him. Is it merely habit and pattern? I believe so. The pattern of your previous relationship was thus. You cheated. Gregory found out. You often used his job as a reason for seeking others. You fought over it, but each time eventually worked out a way to move on. He would forgive you, and you would swear it would never happen again. This was followed by an improved relationship until the cycle began again.”

“You could not possibly know anything about it,” she hissed. “So I suggest you just shut up!”

“Nonsense, I know everything about it. A security protocol which began when Lestrade started working with high level initiatives almost a decade ago required that he have annual security evaluations. This of course would mean that by default his wife was also under scrutiny. The reports show that you indulged yourself in thirty-four extra-marital affairs in approximately a nine year span. During that time your husband discovered four of them. The last one was too much and he at began divorce proceedings.

“As you have not tried to see him during the past year, I doubt your interest in either Greg or his...charms. You are not in financial difficulty and so are probably not looking for his money. In the divorce you received far more than half, including the house, in the division of assets and the paperwork was signed by both parties. You are not in a position to try to maneuver him into providing more of his property.”

She opened her mouth but he lifted a hand in a small gesture which said he was not finished and asked for, or perhaps demanded, her patience.

“It is habit which makes you run to take care of him. You have nursed him through several similar episodes in the past. You like the role of worried wife, the attention you get. Your pattern has been broken, yet you would very much like to be in the portion of the cycle in which Greg becomes reliant on you, then focused on you and on being a better husband. You miss the pampering, the stage where Gregory tells himself that if he only did more, offered more, gave more, then the marriage would survive and he would not be a failure. For there was always the unspoken message from you that the majority of inadequacies were his. That he was, in some way, not enough man to keep you. The truth was, of course, that you were not honest enough to keep your wedding vows. The repeated failures were yours.”

“You filthy..you terrible...SCUM! How dare you say that shite?” Her fingers curved as if she longed to scratch his eyes out. Then it was as if she could not stand the sight of him and she was pacing again, head down, and this time cursing under her breath.

The man in the nice suit was unmoved. He murmured to himself, “And this is why I seldom indulge in the art of deduction.” Then he stood up. He was quite tall and stared down at her as she slowed to a stop. He showed just a little emotion and she took a step backwards under the intensity of his gaze.

He straightened his cuffs absently and then began to speak, but was cut off as the door opened and a dark-haired young woman in a black dress slid inside. She reported to the man as if they were alone in the room.

“Sorry, sir, there was a computer failure and the staff were working off of a paper copy, an old file card system, when they made the call. The file has been updated. The computer records were checked and are accurate. It won't happen again, they assure me.”

“Thank you,” the man said with a nod, and the woman slipped out the door again. He turned his attention to the former Mrs. Lestrade and said. “If you are genuinely concerned about your very ex-husband, let me set your mind at ease. He is not alone, he will always have the best of care, and he does not lack affection in his life, as he recently remarried. Now, you will leave, and you will make no other attempt to reinsert yourself into Gregory's life.”

“He WHAT?”

The man winced slightly and said, “I am quite sure you heard me. He married. A quiet ceremony just after Christmas.” The man smiled, and to her obvious shock, he lifted his hand and gave it a spread-fingered wave which emphasized the ring which glittered there.

“My Greg, married to a man? That's insane!” Her hands were on her hips and her face was twisted with confusion, anger and acute disbelief.

“Not your Greg,” the man reminded her with a cold glance. “Mine.” The door opened again and the young woman in black stepped into the room. “You'll be escorted from the premises. Don't return.”

“I think you're lying! I know Greg likes women. PRETTY women!” she emphasized as a delicate but firm hand on her arm guided her towards the door.

“Quite true. Pretty women. But steadfast men.” Steadfast, hard, possessive men who could make him scream in bed. But no need to mention that. Besides, she was at last out of the room. He could go back to working while he waited for the news that Gregory had finally regained consciousness. It wouldn't be long now.


End file.
